Thoughts Lately
After a summer of relaxing and living in the moment as much as possible, the back-to-school rush is here, and I'm taking on a new challenge myself. Are we ready?
Oh, sweet summertime ... it always go by way too fast for my liking. I've always been a summer lover. To me, you just can't beat things like dining outdoors; soaking up rays while getting bronzed by the pool/ocean/lake; and taking advantage of those extra daylight hours in the evening. It feels like we get bonus time. You'd think it wouldn't fly by, but, then again, we are having so much fun. It tracks, I guess.
Not to mention, breezy dresses, beaded/woven jewelry, beach-y shorts and my Birks are my favorite clothes of all. I appreciate a good sweater and my favorite jeans, but sweater weather goes on for months and months and months, and it's so much more complicated. For starters, the shoe decision is ever more difficult, especially now that I require orthotics—and denim cuts/lengths are all over the place. When did I become ancient?!
Anyway, as I've gotten older, I've quickly realized that the quality time we get in the summer is the best part of all. While things are always busy, and I'm constantly running all over the place with two very social teens (with one learning to drive), summer gives us more time together than during the school year when everyone has their different sports.
I realize that the structure of the school year is good for us all, and there is so much to enjoy in watching all those sports! I can't stop talking about the South Lakes Varsity Girls Volleyball team's 3-0 sweep of the Herndon Hornets on Wednesday night. Proud is an understatement. I also love watching the girls make new friends as they continue to build deeper bonds with their old ones. And it's a treat to watch them work hard and do great things in their classes.
I guess when it comes down to it, when we enter a new school year, it seems like we get exponentially closer to Izzy leaving for college. I can't think about that too much, or I'm a sobbing mess.
And this year, I'm hitting the books as well, and not just my usual romance novels and perimenopause primers. It's about to get real.
I've been wanting to step back into the workforce for a while, especially with those college years coming, but I have been having no luck finding writing and editing opportunities that sound appealing to me. Such jobs are very limited, especially thanks to AI, and most of them are in tech. So, I am making a big pivot. I'm lurching toward the other field I've always been drawn to: health and medicine.
Besides, scrubs have come a long way. I just got my first Figs, and they come in tall sizes!
It's both exciting and scary, but I couldn't pass up on the opportunity. Next month, I am taking a fasttrack class for a CCMA certification. It's live online and has in-person lab learning here in Reston. What's more, the class was discounted substantially since there is such a need for medical assistants in our area. Class begins on my Dad's birthday, Sept. 9, (I'm taking that as a sign of luck), and I will take the test on Dec. 7.
Brain fog in perimenopause is no joke, so it could be tough, and I could fail, but I am so excited to learn and potentially help people feel calm when they first step into a doctor's office. God knows I appreciate those people.
And, besides, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
—Natalie Kaar
